Computer software applications allow users to create a variety of documents to assist them in work, education, and leisure. For example, popular word processing applications allow users to create letters, articles, books, memoranda, and the like. Spreadsheet applications allow users to store, manipulate, print, and display a variety of alphanumeric data. Such applications have a number of well known strengths including rich editing, formatting, printing, calculation and on-line and off-line editing.
Most computer software applications do not contain all necessary programming for providing functionality required or desired by every potential user. Many programmers often wish to take advantage of an existing application's capabilities in their own programs or to customize the functionality of an application and make it more suitable for a specific set of users or actions. For example, a programmer working in the financial industry may wish to customize a word processor for a user audience consisting of financial analysts editing financial reports. In recent years, the Extensible Markup Language has been used widely as an interchangeable data format for many users. Often users of XML functionality attach or associate one or more XML schema files or XML-based solutions to a document being edited or created by the user. However, users/programmers are limited in their ability to apply XML schema files and other XML-based solutions functionality to a given document because the user/programmer does not have direct and easy access to the Namespace or schema library containing the XML schema files or other XML-based solutions.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a programmable object model for allowing a user/programmer to access a Namespace or schema library of XML resources for customizing or otherwise manipulating the resources to enhance the user/programmer's use of XML functionality with a software application document. It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present invention has been made.